Bill Would Impose Fines on Hollywood

Accusing the entertainment industry of having a “target on the backs of our children,” Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and two Democratic colleagues introduced legislation Thursday that would put teeth in federal regulation of Hollywood.

The bill would provide civil penalties of up to $11,000 per offense for movie, music and video game companies found to be violating their own voluntary guidelines by targeting children with advertisements for products with violent, profane or sexual content.

Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti angrily denounced the legislation as “a death-sentence bill for voluntary film ratings.” If it becomes law, he said, he would “reluctantly recommend” that studios abandon the film-ratings system he helped create more than 30 years ago.

Leaders of the music and video game industries complained that the bill would punish companies for adopting voluntary guidelines.

“Sen. Lieberman’s legislation could in fact create a disincentive to providing information to parents about explicit content,” said Cary Sherman, general counsel of the Recording Industry Assn. of America. The RIAA withdrew promised marketing guidelines for explicit material last year out of concern about just such liability.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the bill, replied that Congress would “take a hard look” at any industry that sought to escape penalties by shedding its voluntary guidelines.

Observers said the fate of the bill, which has failed to attract a Republican co-sponsor, may come down to whether it is perceived as doing more harm than good.